Chapter 23 - Anger
"Miranda you might want to sit down for this." He sympathetically told me, causing a slight amount of adrenalin to rush though my blood stream. My vibes were completely blocked at this point, I didn't know whether to trust him, to believe what he was about to tell me. He grabbed my hand and pulled my zombie-like form upstairs, back into the bedroom where I woke up, so that we were alone. We sat down on the bed simultaneously, as I just froze there in shock, yet again, while he sat beside me, our knees almost touching.
"Miranda, Will knows more about your parent's death than he makes out to know. My sources tell me that they weren't just robbed. They were attacked Miranda, by vampires." His sentence rang in my ears, like the echo of someone's haunting voice shouting down a long, deserted hallway. "I'm almost certain that he's associated to these vampires. I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe even possibly involved in what happened."
I didn't know how to react at first. I mean, why the hell should I even believe him? Joel hated Will, and this could have easily been a ploy to win me over, to make me fall for him instead. "Joel why should I believe you? And how do you even know this?" I asked, still angry and uncertain.
"My abilities Miranda, they're similar to yours. I've seen things, visions, of the monsters that were in your home that day. I've also seen visions of him with those monsters Miranda." He replied, sparking up that adrenalin inside of my stomach.
"So, you didn't actually see them attack my parents? You just saw them there, in my house? And you didn't even see Will there, you just saw a different scene with him in it?" I questioned, hope still shining through my tone.
"Well, technically yes, but I know that he knows something Miranda. He knows what went down, but has clearly failed to tell you. That's why you shouldn't trust the guy. Who knows what he's really planning to do." Joel told me, looking at me with hesitation, as if I were about to explode and take him down with me.
Tears began to form in my eyes, not being able to hold back the emotions that were dug up over the very mention of my parent's death. Joel suddenly wrapped his arms around me into a tight embrace, letting me cry into his soft, warm and muscled chest. This made me realise that I did miss Joel. That he was here, only trying to protect me. Despite the fact that I didn't completely agree with some of the things he'd told me, some of the opinions he'd formed, but I knew that he was solely here to protect me, not to harm me, whether he was correct about the entire situation or not. And that's when I recklessly decided to trust him again.
My sobbing into his chest, and our embrace, eventually gently fell onto the bed, into a lying down embrace. We just laid there for what seemed like about half an hour, just holding each other, just absorbing in each other's comfort. It felt nice to be there with him, but a big part of me was wishing that it was Will. I then wondered how Will would be feeling right now, knowing that his stupid hungry mistake of leaving me there, vulnerable, had led me to being kidnapped and out of his reach, having no idea if I were safe or not or where I even was. I felt terribly guilty for a moment, but then remembered the single most important fact that Will had failed to tell me about - my parent's death.
This angered me to a point that my soft spot for Will had almost completely diminished for the time being. I couldn't understand why he hadn't owned up to the fact that he'd known about my parent's death. It wasn't like the situation hadn't come about where he could have told me. We'd talked about my parents before, about how they must have been witches too.
I was lost in thought when I'd realised just how close Joel and I were, lying here on the bed. He was gently stroking my hair at the back of my head, planting small delicate kisses on the top of my head. "Joel, how did you know about me? That I was a witch, even before I did? And what's in it for you? This whole situation I mean, why are you so adamant on protecting me, why do you care so much?" I asked, a million questions popping into my head.
I pulled my head up off of his chest to look him in the eyes, those gorgeous, sparkling, bright green eyes. "Miranda I've felt as though I've known you my entire life. We knew each other once, back in kindergarten. We were pretty good friends, actually. You probably wouldn't remember because we were just toddlers. When I used to know you, I used to get visions from you, as young as I was, but my powers were very advanced for such a young age. Anyway, we'd parted after kindy, going to different primary schools, but I continued to get the visions. The visions would mostly be flashes of you, in your life at the time. I'd seen you graduate from primary school, I'd seen your first day of high school, your high school grad, the day your parents were...murdered. Just random visions. I've been connected to you for a very long time Miranda." He told me, completely startling me.
I couldn't believe what he was saying, and my jaw had drop as he continued on "I also had premonitions, in the form of dreams, just like your nightmare, but of us here, meeting at college. I've always known just how great your powers were going to be Miranda, that you've always been destined to help us fight this war. I had never bothered to track you down though, I didn't want to interfere with our destiny. I knew that we'd meet again here, at college, I knew how close we'd become, that I'd be here to protect you." He was now staring into my eyes, his full of passion, lust, possibly even...love. The guy seemed well and truly, head over heels, in love with me, if I wasn't wrong. That thought made me melt inside just a little, as the butterflies threatened to escape my stomach. I couldn't help but feel flattered by it, it was kind of sweet. Like some silly fantasy romance movie, about a couple who were destined to be together.
But at the same time it was also bitter. I mean, did he just expect me to fall for him too? Did he expect me to take sides and help him fight against the vampires? That was the last thing that I wanted to do, especially now that Will was in the equation.
"Joel, why have I never been connected with you though?" I asked, wondering how it only went one way.
"Your parents Miranda, they tried their best since the day you were born to protect you from this 'supernatural' world of witches and vampires. They wanted you to live the most normal life you could possibly live. They did everything they could to prevent you from embracing your powers. They vowed they would remove themselves from our society just for you, just to protect you. Our parents were pretty good friends before they made that vow, so that's how I know all of this, and that's how I knew about your powers. But after kindy they parted, went their separate ways. My parents were quite the opposite, they did as much as they could to embrace my powers. They didn't believe in what your parents were doing, they didn't understand why, so they wanted nothing more to do with them after they'd made the choice. Perhaps it was because your parents had seen visions of your fate, of how things are now, this whole messed up situation. Perhaps they were just trying to protect you."
I couldn't believe that my parents had hidden this from me my entire life. I'd always had my vibe, but I'd never once talked to them about it. I kept it all to myself, thinking that I was just a little strange. But the whole time they knew, they knew about this insane fantasy world full of witches and vampires, and perhaps by trying to remove themselves from it they thought they'd be protecting me, but in the end it only ended up getting themselves killed, and dragging me into this world which I had no idea how to handle...
I snapped back to reality the moment I noticed Joel was still staring intently into my eyes. I just looked up at him, stared back at him, wanting ever so badly for him to protect me now, to comfort me and tell me that everything was going to be ok. I needed this closeness from someone, and if I couldn't get it from Will, who wouldn't give it to me on account of him believing we could never be together, and the fact that he'd basically betrayed me, then I would get it from the next best thing - Joel.
He cupped one of my cheeks with his palm, gently caressing my skin with his thumb, soothingly, comfortingly, butterfly-inducingly...and then he ever so slowly began advancing on my face, as I did so the same to him. Yes, I wanted to kiss him. I needed this, I craved for it, I craved for affection right now. I felt so vulnerable, and Joel was here to comfort me. I could now feel his warm breath gently caressing the side of my face, as he tilted his head while his eyes were locked onto my lips, which were now only cm's apart. My heart beat picked up it's pace, and the butterflies were becoming increasingly restless, as he ever so softly, so gently, brushed his lips onto mine for a split second, just like that day back in the library...
Knock knock knock. And then we were interrupted by someone at the door. Great. Joel immediately pulled away from me, and got up off of the bed to open the door. And who better to interrupt an intimate moment between Joel and I? Lilly. Yep, Lilly. That bitch. "Joel, I need to talk to you." She said sternly, throwing me daggers the instant that Joel turned his head to flash me an 'I'm sorry' expression. Joel walked out with her, gently clicking the door behind him, and I heard them walk off into the distance. I slumped back into the bed, letting out a large sigh.
Knock knock knock. Great. Someone else to come and bug me, right when I seriously felt like being alone. "Come in." I called out, partly wishing that I hadn't. The door creaked open, and in walked Ashton, a faded sympathetic smile forming on his lips.
"Hey Miranda." He softly said, hesitantly walking over to me, taking a seat at the end of the bed.
"Hey Ashton." I replied, sending him a very faint smile, not wanting to have completely forgiven him just yet.
"How you holding up? Look, I'm so sorry about all of this. The last thing we wanted to do was kidnap you the way we did. But we didn't have a choice, we thought you're life was in danger. We only want the best for you, you know. And Joel, he cares so much about you. You may not realise it yet, but he's basically dedicated his whole life for you. You two have some sort of weird destiny thingy happening up in here, it's kinda freaky." Ashton grinned, looking all excited, like a little kid telling a cool story at show and tell, one that he was proud of, it was kind of cute.
"Thanks Ash, I know you mean well. But I seriously think you guys have it all wrong. If Will wanted me dead, don't you think he would have done it by now, and not saved me on the few occasions when I was attacked by rogue vampires?" I spat back, sort of startling and confusing him. I didn't mean to sound so rude, and kind of felt a little bad, Ashton really was a nice, genuine guy.
"I dunno Miranda, you haven't been in this world as long as us, to know as much as we do. But hey, I'll definitely take what you've told us into consideration." He said, leaning in and wrapping his arms around me into a genuinely comforting hug. I happily returned the hug, truly feeling sorry for the guy. He too, was clearly brainwashed in the same way that Joel was.
He pulled away out of the hug and said "You realise you're vampire 'friends' have Summer though. I really like her Miranda, if something were to happen I don't know what I'd do..." he trailed off, as I cut in.
"Joel, the vampires that have her aren't my 'friends'. They're Will's enemies. They're holding her hostage because of Will and I. They just want to get back at him. It's a long story, but basically they're the rogues, and Will and his family are the good guys, got it?" I told him, flashing him my puppy dog eyes, in hope that he'd finally believe me.
"Whatever you say Miranda. I just hope we can find her before something happens. I've been trying my hardest to bring about visions, but it doesn't seem to be working. Anyways, you rest up ok? You probably need some more sleep. I'll cook us some dinner, will probably be ready in a few hours so I'll come wake you when it is." He told me, before flashing me another cute genuine smile and leaving the room.
I let sleep overtake me for the next few hours, more so that I didn't have to go down there and face them all, especially Lilly. They were practically holding me hostage here. And I couldn't stop thinking about Will, about how all I wanted to do was find him, and yell at him for not telling me about my parents. I just wanted to find out the god damned truth, and I trusted Will. I knew that if I'd ask him, he'd tell me what he knew, whether I was going to like it or not. Whether it would damage Will and I forever, I didn't care, I just needed to know the truth.
I grew sick and tired of this boring and bland bedroom so decided to get up and take a shower. Luckily for me there was one right by the bedroom, so I jumped in, washed my hair, dressed in the same clothes again (I'd decided I would ask Joel before I went to bed for some clean clothes), and applied some makeup I'd found in the cabinet. I decided then that I would make my way down the stairs into the kitchen, where I could smell that dinner was being cooked and hopefully soon be ready.
I walked into the kitchen, where Ashton stood by the stove. He turned and flashed me a large grin, as I took a seat on a stool at the raised bench. "Sleeping beauty is alive! You hungry? I'm making spag bol!" he enthusiastically chanted, somewhat reminding me of Summer. My best friend who I'd abandoned, who I'd missed, and hoped and prayed was alive and well. If anything were to happen to her I would never forgive myself...
I was then startled by a pair of muscled, tanned arms, which had wrapped themselves around me from behind, embracing me into a warm and comforting hug. My heart skipped a beat as I looked up over my shoulder, to see Joel there resting his head on my shoulder, sending me the most gorgeous, dimpled, heart-warming smile. I immediately glanced over at Ashton who I'd heard let out a slight chuckle. He was also smiling to himself, as if to have just accomplished something.
"How you feeling pretty?" Joel asked me, unwrapping his arms from around me and walking around to my side to take the seat next to me.
"Um, a little better, I suppose. I don't have clothes or anything though. What are the chances of letting me go home and getting some stuff?" I questioned, using my signature puppy dog eyes.
"Miranda it's not safe. But I can send Jordan and Lilly tonight, together they're both pretty powerful, I'm pretty confident they'd be able to hold back a bunch of vampires if they had to." He replied, causing me to feel a little anxious. I was kind of hoping that Joel would let me go, in anticipation that Will could possibly be there, waiting for me. It would be my chance to see him, to find out the truth.
"Please let me go too? They wouldn't know what to get. Please Joel? I just feel so lost, it would be nice to see my apartment again." I begged, noticing that my puppy dog eyes were somewhat having an effect on him.
"Ok. How about tomorrow? Ashton and I have some, stuff, to do tomorrow, so you can go with Jordan and Lilly. You won't be able to stay there for long though Miranda, it's too dangerous. 10 minutes tops." He replied, finally sparking up some hope inside of me.
Once dinner was ready, we all sat, silently, at the table together. It felt quite uncomfortable, not one of us saying a word. After we'd finished, Ashton took our plates away to wash up, and Jordan and Lilly left to go do whatever they always disappeared to do, leaving Joel and I alone, once again. "I think I'm going to head to bed. A good night's sleep probably wouldn't do me much harm. I'm pretty lucky I have that special ability to fall asleep anywhere at any time, hey?" I playfully smiled at Joel, as he smiled back and we both stood, and headed for my bedroom.
Joel followed me in, clicking the door behind us. I crawled into bed, settling myself in, noticing that he just stood there, staring at me. "You going to be alright tonight?" He asked me, before turning towards the door, about to open it again.
"Um, probably. But will you at least stay with me for a bit?" I asked, patting the bed beside me. Joel just flashed me a gorgeous smile and made his way towards me on the bed, lying down next to me. As soon as he did so, I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling up into his chest, as he returned the embrace.
"Miranda, I'm so sorry for all of this. I wish things didn't have to be this way. I wish your life wasn't in danger right now. But I promise you we'll fix this, I promise you I'll try my hardest to get things back to normal as soon as possible." He whispered ever so gently into my ear. I pulled away to look up at him. I stared at his face for what seemed like minutes, studying his every feature. His flawless tanned skin, the sexy dark stubble creeping up around that sexy jaw of his, his eyes, his sparkling green eyes, and then finally my eyes landed on his lips. His perfectly sculptured lips. I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful he was.
I was seriously starting to wonder why on earth it was, that Joel had been connected to me his entire life. Were we really destined to be together? I knew that I had feelings for Will though, but at least with Joel, I knew that our lives wouldn't be in danger if we wanted to be together. And I knew that he wouldn't have to watch me grow old, while he didn't age one bit. But that was the deal I'd get if I were to be with Will, if it were even possible.
I was still staring at his lips, when I noticed he was also staring at mine. We'd been in this situation countless times now, wanting, and needing so badly to kiss one another. Basically, it was getting to the point that it was now or never. He lifted a hand up to tuck some stray hair behind my ear, and after doing so, cupped my cheek with his palm. His warm breath on my face was sending shivers down my spine and the butterflies had just about had enough in my stomach.
His eyes were locked onto my lips now, as cm's turned into mm's, and before I knew it, I closed my eyes, and felt the ever so soft, so warm, heart-warming touch, of his lips when they finally, ultimately, at last, pressed down onto mine. The butterflies went mad at that exact moment, and I couldn't help but melt right into him, melt right into his touch. It felt so right, so amazing, and so beautiful. His lips gently moved against mine, so softly yet so much passion stemming from them. He continued to melt into me, and I subconsciously moved my body even closer to him, so that I was now completely pressed right up against him.
After a few minutes, our lips had picked up their pace, and I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck, and pulling him down even closer to me so that he was now partly leaning over onto me. He began to kiss me with even more passion now, and I felt his tongue threaten to part my lips, which I gladly let in. The kiss was becoming quite heated and passionate, and I couldn't help but feel my palms all the way down his torso, brushing them over his sculptured abs, and then underneath his shirt so that our skin made contact. His body was so incredibly toned, I thought, pushing myself even further into his kiss.
I didn't realise that I was doing it, but I was slowly pulling his shirt up, until he broke the kiss for just a second, to pull it all the way off over his head. He then immediately crashed his lips back onto mine, seductively trailing his fingers down from my face, in between my bra, down to my waist. His hand then grabbed onto my bare skin, and also slowly began to gently lift my top up.
We continued to passionately kiss one another, as I grabbed a hold of his belt, and used it to pull him in even closer towards me. His hands then also skimmed the top lining of my pants, as he sneakily caressed his fingers over my skin at the top of them. Oh crap. I just remembered I was wearing Will's undies. And Will. Will popped up into my head. How could I be doing this, when my thoughts would always inevitably lead to Will? I suddenly felt guilty again, like the first time Joel had tried to kiss me in the library.
I abruptly pulled away from him, breathless, and just stared up into his eyes, our faces still only cm's apart. "Joel, I-I can't go through with this. Not right now. I'm sorry." I panted, still trying to catch my breath, trying to subside the passion inside of me which still wanted to plunge back in and kiss him again.